Facebook asks advertisers to state source of audience's personal data

In a bid to tackle the user privacy issue, Facebook has asked advertisers to seek permission before targeting ads based on user's personal info like email address and pone number with effective from July 2. Read more about the Facebook custom audience update...

Advertisers will also have to specify the origin of the audience’s information while uploading a Custom Audience list. The move is focused on additional accountability and transparency. Citing the reason behind this, Facebook stated that Custom Audiences helps advertisers reach audiences more likely to have a relationship with their business.

The updates are as follows,as mentioned on Facebook blogpost:

• Showing people the origin of the audience information: Starting July 2, Facebook will require advertisers to specify the origin of the audience's information when a business uploads a new audience. When uploading a customer file, advertisers will need to indicate whether the information was collected directly from people, provided by partners or a combination of the two.

• In the drop-down menu of each ad, the “Why am I seeing this?” section will show people the source of the information (advertiser or partner) and if the advertiser was able to reach them through their phone number or email address. As always, people can choose to stop seeing ads from a particular advertiser in each ad or through Ad Preferences. Facebook claims to continue to improve transparency over time to help people understand why they are seeing an ad.

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• Audience-sharing requirements: Starting July 2, Facebook is strengthening the requirements for when an advertiser shares Custom Audiences from a customer file— such as with its advertising agency. In these cases, both parties will need to establish an audience-sharing relationship through Business Manager, and agree to our Custom Audiences Terms.

• Terms education: As always, advertisers who use Custom Audiences from a customer file are ultimately responsible for having any necessary permission to use and share people's data. While these responsibilities haven't changed, advertisers will start seeing more regular, detailed reminders of their obligation to help protect people's privacy before they run their ads. Facebook will also now require everyone on an ad account uploading Custom Audiences to accept the terms, rather than only requiring this from the admin on the account.

With theses updates, Facebook hopes that it will be easier for businesses to advertise efficiently and effectively, while providing more transparency to people.